Honouring the Lost
by cxenon
Summary: For some of us, our perceptions change toward the end of our life. Sometimes, we never regret until it's too late to change anything. One-shot.


**AN: Here's a one-shot I thought up. Actually, I had a dream, and I basically put my dream out into words.**

Batman knew the bullet was coming, knew from experience where it would hit. Beside him stood the child, a girl barely eight; her eyes were wide in shock and fear – emotions the Batman knew too well. The sharp retort of the pistol split the night, and the Dark Knight knew it was too late; he had no more strength, no more determination to give, only a quiet resignation to the soft embrace of Death…

_No!_ It was too late for him…

_No! _He could barely lift his arm…

Mustering the last of his willpower, the Batman threw himself at the girl, shielding her with his muscled body even as he felt the lead casing rip into his lungs. Tumbling to the ground, he sprang to his feet, back facing the armed assailants.

The men shouted in alarm, evidently surprised at his tenacity.

_I am the Batman, Goddammit!_

The Batman hugged the girl, straining his thighs and darting into the nearby manhole.

_Heh… got to give it to the city planners for putting one in every alley._

Booted feet trudged through the grimy waters; droplets of sewer-water contacted with the bullet wound, causing the Batman to wince in pain. The girl trembled slightly, clutching feebly at his black cowl, hanging on for dear life. She did not cry, she did not whimper, and the Batman was thankful for that; he had no more encouraging words to give her.

_Clark would tell her jokes… Diana would make her feel safe… all I can do is make sure she lives on._

Further and further into the never-ending abyss of dank corridors Batman travelled, his laboured breathing providing for the only ambience in the stench-ridden sewers. The girl tightened her grip, and Batman could feel her breathing quicken, until finally she let out a small sob.

He ignored her.

_Dammit… now she's crying. Where's Clark when you need him?_

Batman could feel the pain building in his chest, the blood filling up his flaccid lungs; he would not last long. He needed to get the girl to safety.

_Damn Clark! Damn Diana! Damn Hal! Damn the entire Justice League! They stay up in their mighty space-fortress, thinking themselves gods and leaving humanity to suffer! They don't deserve the title of heroes!_

Batman stumbled, falling to his knees; the girl let out a surprised yelp, clinging ever tighter to her saviour's neck.

_Can't they see it? The world needs more than protection from alien invasions; they need real heroes. They don't need charlatans that sit on their throne, fakes that don't care about the world._

With a groan, Batman pushed himself to his feet, and willed himself to keep walking.

_I'm not Bruce Wayne goddammit! I'm the Batman! The Goddamn Batman! They say I'm just a human, but I'm more than that; I'm a symbol, something that will never die!_

_I will never die!_

Batman broke into a run as an irrational rage overtook him. He could not die now, not after everything. He had to get back, he _had _to see his wife-to-be, his most precious love. This was supposed to be a routine patrol, but he had gotten careless, careless because of happiness.

He was the Batman, and he would live to learn from his mistakes.

All of a sudden, he could hear voices coming from up ahead. He strained his ears…

And he smiled. Then he chuckled, a horrible grating sound that was unnerving to listen to.

Slowly, he put the little girl down. Falling to his knees, Batman whispered in her ears, for once refraining from inserting his artificial growl, "_Go to them, little one. They'll help you. They'll bring you to mommy and daddy. They'll keep you safe._"

The girl looked up at him with innocent blue eyes, those cute little orbs glistening with tears. She stood on her toes, and tugged at the Batman's cowl. "_Why can't you follow me, Mr. Batman? We can all go home to mommy and daddy…_"

Batman chuckled again mirthlessly. "_I'll follow you in a while, child. Now run along…_"

The girl stood for a moment, as if carefully deliberating her decision. "_Okay, Mr. Batman…_"

She tiptoed again, giving the Batman a kiss on the cheek. The voices were coming closer now, and the girl rushed down the corridors, only stopping once to glance back at the heavily wounded Batman before rushing to greet her rescuers.

"_J'onn that's the girl!_"

"_Yes Wally. Take her up to the surface – we still have to find Batman._"

"_Oh god… Bruce would never leave a little girl like that… Clark! Have you found anything?_"

"_I'm on it, Diana. Please, calm down. We'll find hi-_"

"_How can I calm down, goddammit! This was supposed to be a normal patrol! He was supposed to come home to me! Tomorrow's th-"_

"_Diana! Calm. Down._"

"_Batman's that way Mr. Superman… he's hurt bad!_"

"_You heard her! Let's go!_"

Batman chuckled softly from the darkness. Wincing at the pain lancing through his battered body.

_So they came huh? I guess I was too quick to judge them. They would make good rulers of the Earth…_

_Shit… what am I saying?_

_I'm the Goddamn Batman, I'm the one who should rule the world._

_Y'know Joker, I just wanted to say, I see why you're so crazy. The world is made up of countless random acts of violence, and the ones who suffer are the normal people. How ironic, that the one thing I regret most is not the happiness I could've achieved, but the fact that I've never killed with my bare hands._

_I see now, I should've done the world a favour, made the world a better place and rid it of the scum that perpetuate evil. I guess all I can count on are my friends…_

_For now._

Taking his final breath, the Batman slumped into the water, allowing the filth of Gotham City to carry him away. Perhaps his friends would find him before he floated too far away.

_Little girl… I'm going home to mommy and daddy too._

**AN: hope you enjoyed! Please review!  
**


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